Latching device for double container pedestal



United States Patent Inventor Appl. No.

Filed Patented Assignee James T. Brown Johnstown, Pennsylvania 744,108

July 11, 1968 Aug. 25, 1970 Bethlehem Steel Corporation a corporation of Delaware LATCHING DEVICE FOR DOUBLE CONTAINER PEDESTAL 2 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 105/366, 248/ 1 19 Int. Cl B65j l/22, B60p 7/08 Field of Search 105/366,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,321,162 5/1967 Connerat 248/119 3,354,838 11/1967 Mowatt-Larssen 105/366 3,437,055 4/1969 Wille et al 105/366 Primary Examiner- Drayton E. Hoffman Att0mey James T. Seavey ABSTRACT: On a railway flat car, a carriage pivotally supports a retractable corner pedestal for a container. By a coacting shutter and latch arrangement, said pedestal is automatically locked in place when the pedestal is raised to upright position, and is manually released for retraction when desired.

Patented Aug. 25, 1970 INVENTOR James 7. Brown ll QM. P S

LATCIIING DEVICE FOR DOUBLE CONTAINER PEDESTAL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The field of art to which the invention pertains is that of railway rolling stock having pedestals for the transportation of cargo containers, and more specifically to mechanism for locking a retractable dual pedestal in erect operative position on a flat car so as to enable said pedestal to engage and support the adjacent corners of two separate containers.

When the car is required to carry highway trailers or other ladings in place of containers, moreover, the pedestals are not needed. They are then retracted by dropping downwardly when the locking mechanism is manually released.

In the past, many difficulties and serious safety risks have arisen because the latching mechanisms have been unreliable as holding devices and difficult to manipulate, and also because the unlocking operation thereon has usually required a trainman to insert one or both hands directly into the area through which the pedestal falls, with obvious dangers of personal injury.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is the object of this invention to provide a mechanism which effectively eliminates the aforesaid difficulties and safety risks.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the annexed drawings:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a double container pedestal equipped with my latch for holding said pedestal in erect position;

FIG. 2 is a side view, omitting the side plate of the carriage for clarity, of said double container showing said latch in engaged position; and

FIG. 3 is a similar side view, but partly in section, of said double container pedestal showing said latch in fully released position; and

FIG. 4 is a vertical section on the line 4-4 of FIG. 2, partly broken away at one side to show the shutter plate.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the reference numeral 11 indicates a boxlike dual container support pedestal. Said pedestal 11 is preferably fabricated of welded flat plates, as shown, and includes a high outer side plate 12, a low inner side plate 13, and an interposed inverted U-shaped plate 14 which forms the front wall 15, container seating portion 16, and rear wall 17 of the pedestal. The container seating portion 16 is normally horizontal, and it is transversely surmounted by a center block 18 having beveled upper edges 19, which block 18 separates the adjacent corners of two containers (not shown) when said corners are in engagement with the flat plates 20 on said seating portion 16. The underside of said container seating portion 16 is strengthened by a depending vertical longitudinal web plate 21 having a pair of holes 22, and a pair of depending parallel spaced plates 23 having corresponding holes 24.

Vertically reversible hook-shaped round rods 25 extending through said holes 22 and 24 and aligned oval holes 26 in the outer side plate 12 of the pedestal will engage regular round holes in the corner portions of the containers (not shown) and will restrain said containers against vertical movement relative to the pedestal. After the hook ends 27 of said rods 25 have been disengaged from the containers to allow the containers to be removed, said rods 25 are free to be rotated downwardly and stored in protected enclosures 28 in the pedestal under the container seating portion 16, so that said rods 25 will not interfere with retraction of the pedestal as later described. Spiral compression springs 29 in a pipe 30 surrounding the inner ends of the rods 25 will hold said rods in either engaged or stored positions. The front wall 15 of said pedestal is extended downwardly and is provided with a U-shaped flat bar handle 31 and a rear reinforcing plate 32. Said front wall 15 and reinforcing plate 32 are welded together and have registering latch holes 33 and 34.

For retraction downwardly through a suitable opening in the deck of a railway flat car or other vehicle (not shown), the pedestal may be pivotally mounted directly on the deck, if so desired, but the movable carriage 35 hereinafter described has the advantage of being easily attached to standard cushioning means for the absorption of longitudinal operating shocks.

Said carriage 35 as shown comprises a welded rectangular open base frame 36 including a pair of longitudinally extending side plates 37 and 38, the ends of which are held in parallel spaced relation by vertical end plates 39 and 40 and top and bottom horizontal spacers 41 and 42. Spaced inwardly from the ends are two transverse angles 43 and 44, and a cross bar member 45.

Said frame 36 is preferably mounted for longitudinal movement on a flat trackway 36 within an elongated recess or well (not shown) in the deck of a car or other vehicle whereon it is carried. Said frame 36 is mounted by wheels 46 on axles 47 extending laterally through holes 48 in the side plates 37 and 38. Said side plates 37 and 38 are centrally reinforced by outer side plates 49.

End-threaded rods 50 extending through central holes 51 in the end plates 39 and 40 and secured by lock-nuts 52 connect the frame 36 to resilient cushioning means (not shown) and/or other carriages (not shown) bearing pedestals.

A large pivot pin 53 which is preferably welded to the pedestal 10 extends laterally outwardly through holes 54 in the side plates 12 and 13 of said pedestal and through registering holes 55 in the side plates 37 and 38 of said frame 36.

Inasmuch as said pivot pin 53 is located below the center of gravity of said pedestal 10, the pedestal 10 will rotate freely (by gravity) 180 degrees downwardly through an orifice (not shown) in the trackway 36' to its stored position, unless it is locked in the upright position by a suitable latch mechanism which serves to attach it securely to the supporting frame 36 until it is intentionally released.

The latch mechanism 56 of my invention comprises a longitudinal latch pin 57, which in locking position projects horizontally through a hole 58 in an upright transverse plate 59 attached within the side plates 37 and 38 of said frame 36, and further into the aligned holes 33 and 34 in the adjacent front wall 15 and reinforcing plate 32 respectively of said pedestal 10.

Said latch pin 57 is attached integrally as by welding to a rectangular stop plate 60, a round rod 61, and a short flat plate 62. The latter plate 62 carries a manually operable release handle 63.

The horizontal lower leg 64 of the angle 44 on the frame 36 is provided with a centrally recessed clearance portion 65, and its vertical upper leg 66 has a central hole 67 through which projects said round rod 61. Said rod 61 is surrounded by a compression spring 68 which is interposed between the stop plate 60 and said vertical leg 66 and normally urges the latch pin 57 toward the pedestal 10. The release handle 63 will generally rest on the flat upper surface of the cross bar member 45.

The upright plate 59 of the frame 36 extends downwardly below the bottom edges of said frames side plates 37 and 38, and on the bottom portion 69 of said plate 59 is secured as by bolts 70 and locks nuts 71 a flat transverse member 72. Above the level of said member 72, the upright plate 59 is provided with a window opening 73, wherein is mounted a spring 74 seated in a retainer ring 75 and urging upwardly a vertical push rod 76. Atop said push rod 76 is a head member 77 welded to the lower portion of a transverse shutter plate 78 having an outer lug 79. Said shutter plate 78 is held slidably against said upright plate 59 by side guide plates 80 thereon and is adapted to be automatically raised by the spring 74 to close the hole 58 in said upright plate 59 when the latch pin 57 has been withdrawn from said hole.

When the pedestal 11 is in its upright position as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the engagement of the lower edge of the pedestal wall with the lug 79 keeps open the shutter plate 78, and the force of the spring 68 holds the locking pin 57 seated flrmly in the reinforced hole 33 in the pedestal end wall 15.

When it is desired to retract the pedestal 11 into its stored position, this operation is commenced by pulling horizontally on the release handle 63. The horizontal movement of said release handle 63 will withdraw the locking pin 57 from said hole 33 in the pedestal end wall 15. The pedestal 11 will then be free to rotate 180 degrees by gravity into its stored position.

The pulling of the release handle 63 as described above also compresses the spring 68 surrounding the rod 61, and causes spring energy to be stored for later use to force the locking pin 57 back into the opening 33 in the pedestal end wall.

Once the end of the locking pin 57 is retracted inside the hole 58 on the upright flat plate 59 on the frame 36, the guided shutter plate 78 is displaced upwardly by the force of the spring 74 to a position which partially blocks the hole 58 in said upright plate 59, thereby preventing any undesired return motion of the spring loaded locking pin 57 while the pedestal is in its stored position.

To return the pedestal 11 to its upright position, said pedestal is manually rotated upwardly 180 degrees in a clockwise direction. As the pedestal ll approaches its upright position, the depending edge of the pedestal end wall 15 strikes the lug 79 which is connected to the spring loaded shutter plate 78. Said shutter plate 78 is forced downwardly sufficiently to compress and store energy in the vertical spring 74, and also to allow the locking pin 57 to move forward and re-seat itself in the end wall of the pedestal.

The above-described latching mechanism is of extremely rugged and reliable construction. By virtue of having its operating mechanism mounted on the framework instead of the pivoted pedestal, it has the advantage of being particularly accessible, non-interfering, and very safe and easy to manipulate regardless of the position of the pedestal.

lclaim:

l. The combination, in a vehicle including a base frame and a container support pedestal pivotally mounted on said frame and including an end wall, wherein the improvement comprises:

a. said end wall having a substantially central latching hole;

b. a longitudinally movable latch pin permanently mounted on said frame and being normally spring-pressed into locking engagement in the central hole in the pedestal when said pedestal is erect;

c. horizontally retractable release means connected to the latch pin for withdrawal of said latch pin from said central hole;

d. a spring pressed vertically guided shutter plate which blocks the re-entry of said latch pin into the central hole in the pedestal when the pedestal is out of the erect position; and

e. coacting means on the shutter plate and pedestal which render inoperative the shutter plate when the pedestal is in erect position.

2. The combination claimed in claim 1, wherein the improvement comprises:

1. the shutter plate of subparagraph (d) being actuated by the movement of the pedestal from a lowered position to an erect position to permit the entry of the latch pin into the central hole in the pedestal. 

